the Lucian’s words, and sat down just outside the camp. He stared out at the cityscape and concentrated. His vision began to blur and then to shift. The familiar view was now a stereoscopic view that shifted, blurred, and changed colors. The Lucians appeared out of this chaos. Hundreds of the strange creatures began to spin balls of color in their hands.
The rain stopped suddenly and the sun shone again over the earth. Where only clean buildings had once stood, an immense forest began to rise. The colors, manipulated skillfully by the Lucians, took shape into large trees, animals, and beautiful streams of water. The humans ran out of their camp and stared in astonishment. Courser noticed Fini walking through the growing forest and was startled by the demeanor of the small creature. He called out to him, but Fini only raised his large blue eyes to meet Courser's eyes and continued to walk along. Two tears trickled down his face, and his shoulders shook with emotion. Courser quickly moved forward to speak to his friend but then it happened.
Loud voices rang out. A man and a Lucian grappled together, fighting with deadly intensity. The Lucian suddenly swung his hand in a flash of color and the man’s throat gaped open. As the bright red blood flowed into the earth, the man’s eyes glazed to the stare of the dead. His expression froze in a mixture of anger and quizzical horror. The floodgates of horror broke loose instantly upon the man’s last breath. The humans fought bravely but the Lucians were unstoppable, throwing bolts of color in strong, deadly shots. Buildings were splintered, spitting long shards of glass through the scattered forces, bringing down human and Lucian alike. Courser bolted forward, trying in vain to ignite his powers of the colors. But they no longer cooperated with his will. A large tree was roughly dislodged from its roots and pushed him to the ground with a terrible force. Courser could not move, and the pain in his legs hinted at the destruction of his bones. He could hear the shouts of the humans becoming more distant and knew his only option. He concentrated once again, slipping into the familiar shifting view.
Terrible screams rent the air and the gray specters appeared in the sky, flying directly at the Lucians. Their horrible screams tore the Lucians apart, destroying them in droves. The remaining humans were untouched by these horrible apparitions and turned frightened eyes on this new struggle. The Lucians fought bravely, running to face the specters in hand to hand combat. The supplicant grins of the Lucians had been transformed into evil maws filled with glittering fangs that could tear the face from a specter. The gore was sickening.
Deep noises thundered from the air. A new factor was added to the chaos on earth. The force of the battle and the entrance of the specters had been the last blow to the delicate balances that supported life on earth. With a ripping sound, the air become oppressive and became a deadly gas rather than the substance of life. The few Lucians remaining crumpled to the earth, instantly dead. The specters stiffened and began to break up, great cracks of glistening red spreading across the dull gray of their bodies. Their life blood ran onto the stained earth and they collapsed too, like broken shards of pottery. Courser screamed in pain and desperation as the last humans on the earth crumpled and died before his eyes. He looked for Carey and could not see her. He could not see Fini. His breaths no longer nourished, and he could sense the darkness approaching. His body began to stiffen and his chest slowly depressed with one final exhalation. Courser was dead.
It was raining again. Across the surface of the earth, the great city stretched on, empty and silent. Street lamps winked out one by one as the air no longer provided them with power, a weak parody of the demise of their creators. The rapidly fading lights illuminated a slight movement near a destroyed building. A lone creature struggled along the ground, drawing rattling breaths. The breathing slowed and stopped. The figure slumped against the cold pavement and rolled onto its back, sightless blue eyes facing the downpour. It was Fini.
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